49005: Ruling on swallowing one’s own saliva or that of someone else

What is the ruling on a person swallowing his saliva, because I noticed that many people in Ramadan spit a great deal to avoid swallowing their saliva, especially after rinsing their mouths during wudoo’. What is the ruling if the saliva comes from someone else such as his wife’s saliva? Please advise us, may Allaah reward you with good.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly :

The laws of Islam are based on making things easier and on
warding off unusual difficulty. Allaah says in the verses on fasting
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make
things difficult for you”

[al-Baqarah 2:185]

And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Allaah does not want to place you in difficulty, but He
wants to purify you, and to complete His Favour to you that you may be
thankful”

[al-Maa'idah 5:6]

“and [Allaah] has not laid upon you in religion any
hardship”

[al-Hajj22:78]

Hence if something is usually difficult to avoid and cannot
be avoided, it does not affect the fast – which includes a person swallowing
his saliva when fasting.

Ibn Qudaamah said:

What cannot be avoided, such as swallowing one’s saliva, does
not invalidate the fast, because avoiding that is difficult. This is similar
to dust on the road and the dust from flour. Even if a person lets saliva
gather and swallows it deliberately, that does not invalidate his fast
because it reaches his stomach in a similar way even if he does not let it
gather.

Al-Mughni, 3/16

Similarly if he sticks
out his tongue with saliva on it, then brings it back in and swallows what
is on it (of saliva), that does not break his fast according to the more
correct view, because however the tongue moves it is regarded as part of the
inside of the mouth, the nature of which cannot change, so it does not
matter what is on it (of saliva).

Haashiyat Qalyoobi, 2/72.

Secondly:

What the fasting person has to do after rinsing his mouth:

Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo’ (6/327):

Al-Mutawalli and others said: If the fasting person rinses
his mouth he has to spit out the water, but he does not have to dry his
mouth with a piece of cloth etc,. There is no scholarly dispute on this
point.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: He does not have to spit even
after drinking water when he hears the adhaan for Fajr. There is no report
from the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) as far as we know to
suggest that when a person drinks when dawn breaks he has to spit until the
taste of the water disappears. Rather this is an area in which there is
lenience.

Al-Mumti’, 6/428.

Those scholars who think
that a person should spit after rinsing his mouth do not ask him to spit
more than once after expelling the water from the mouth. The reason why they
stipulate spitting is that the water is mixed with the saliva so it does not
come out just from spitting it out. But they do not recommend going to
extremes in spitting, because all that is left after that is simply wetness
and moisture, and cannot be avoided.

See al-Mawsoo’ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 28/63

But if anything else is
mixed with the saliva that can be avoided, then it is essential to spit it
out, then it will not matter if any trace of that is left after that, like a
smell etc. This is like what is left from food after suhoor or small pieces
that break off the siwaak, or bleeding that comes from the gums. See also
questions no. 37745,
37937,
12597.

Based on this, there is no justification for those who spit a
great deal during Ramadaan except for being cautious to avoid something
which it is not prescribed to be cautious about. This causes dryness in the
mouth and makes them thirsty, and makes fasting difficult for them. It also
causes them some hardship, especially if they are in places where spitting
is not possible or they do not have any handkerchiefs etc with them. This
may also cause them not to sit for long in the mosques to recite dhikr or
read Qur’aan, so they miss out on these good deeds during this blessed
month.

Thirdly:

With regard to swallowing his wife’s saliva, Ibn Qudaamah
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

With regard to swallowing the saliva of someone else, this
invalidates the fast, because he is swallowing something that did not come
from his own mouth, so it is likened to swallowing something else. If it is
said that ‘Aa’ishah narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) used to kiss her when he was fasting and suck her tongue
(narrated by Abu Dawood, 2386), our response is that it was narrated from
Abu Dawood that he said this isnaad is not saheeh.

Among those who also classed the additional phrase “and suck
her tongue” as weak (da’eef) is al-Albaani in Da’eef Sunan Abi Dawood.
Ibn Qudaamah mentioned two ways of understanding the hadeeth if we assume
that it is saheeh:

1 – That the two matters are not connected. He said: It may
be that he used to kiss her when fasting and suck her tongue at other
times.

2 – The hadeeth does not
refer to swallowing saliva at all. He said: It may be that he sucked it (her
tongue) but did not swallow the saliva, because the wetness on her tongue
was not transferred to his mouth.

Al-Mughni, 3/17

Based on this, if neither spouse swallows the saliva of the
other, the fast is not invalidated.

But
nevertheless, one spouse sucking on the tongue of the other comes under the
general heading of things that lead to intercourse, and kissing and other
things that lead to intercourse are forbidden if there is the fear that a
person’s fast will be invalidated by ejaculation. But if he is confident
that he can control himself then the correct view is that it is permissible
but makrooh, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) used to kiss his wife whilst fasting. (Al-Bukhaari, 1927; Muslim,
1106)

Al-Mumti’ 6/433.

But he should guard his fast against anything that may
detract from it, especially since these things are permitted during the
night in Ramadaan.